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Friday, 8 July 2011

Friday review and give-away: The Oxytocin Factor

I was sent a copy of this by Pinter and Martin publishers to review as it's newly out in paperback. The publishers specialise in books about non-mainstream medical and health issues and there are plenty of other interesting sounding books on their site. The write up on the back of the book states:

The Oxytocin Factor is the first book to reveal the importance of the whole oxytocin system for a general audience. Both the new research findings and the potentially beneficial applications of this hormone in reducing anxiety states, stress, addictions, and problems of childbirth are fascinating and of great significance in all our lives.

The author Dr Kerstin Uvnas Moberg is a Professor of Physiology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala and also researches at the Karolinka Institute in Stockholm. She has written over 400 scientific papers and somehow found the time to have 4 children!

Like many people I was aware of the existence of oxytocin before reading the book but thought it was only of relevance in childbirth and for breastfeeding. After reading the author's findings I now know that it has far more wide ranging effects on both females and males.

The book explains in layman's terms about how the human body's nervous system works and how the oxytocin hormone impacts on it. Most of us know that we have a "fight or flight" system which uses adrenalin. Well it appears that oxytocin is the antithesis of adrenalin as it is the body's "calm and connection" hormone. I was amazed at what an influence one hormone has on us:

growth and healing in the body

easing child birth

encouraging breast milk production

maternal, social and sexual bonding

short and long term stress relief

appetite and thirst

Altogether an incredibly busy hormone! Its made me reexamine potential ways to improve mine and my children's lives by utilising some of the findings in the book.

I am giving away my review copy to one lucky reader - just leave a comment under this post (UK only I'm afraid!). If you don't win then you can obtain a copy through the publishers' web site Pinter and Martin.